Tokyo’s Aging Expressway Reborn After Major Overhaul

Oct 23, 2025 | News On Japan

TOKYO - After nearly a decade of construction, the newly rebuilt Haneda Line of the Metropolitan Expressway, one of Tokyo’s key arteries linking the city center with Haneda Airport, has been unveiled to the media ahead of its official switch to a new road on October 29th.

The section undergoing renewal stretches about 1.9 kilometers from the Higashi-Shinagawa Pier to the Samezu reclaimed area. More than 60 years after its opening, the route had become increasingly vulnerable to corrosion and structural aging, prompting a full-scale reconstruction project aimed at long-term safety and modernization.

Unlike the old Haneda Line, which ran close to the sea surface, the new roadway has been elevated to a height of around 20 meters—up from the previous three meters—to improve durability and resilience. The support pillars have been treated with advanced anti-corrosion materials to resist rusting from sea air, while newly adopted engineering methods help reduce both road noise and vibration during driving.

Reporters were also allowed a rare look inside the expressway’s interior structure. Beneath the road surface, a spacious maintenance corridor has been constructed, allowing for easier inspection and repair work in the future.

Ishida Takahiro, Director of the Project Promotion Department at the Bureau of Renewal and Construction, said the goal was to maintain and manage “a trusted expressway that ensures safety and peace of mind for the next 100 years.”

Source: FNN

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